Air seal for rotary drums



Jan. 24, 1933. SC'QLE I 11,895,348

AIR. SEAL FOR ROTARY DRUMS 7. Filed Jan. 19 19s1 2 Shets-Sheet 1 W "in INVENTORS fokrz 7V J'c/zleyel im- ATTO-RN EY J. W. SCHLEGEL ET AL AIR SEAL FOR ROTARY DRUMS Jan. 24, 1933.

Filed Jan. 19, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lilllill il In and j m}; A. Cl arer cf flfi c Meir ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 24, 1 933- UNITED STATES- J'OHN W. SOHLEGEL, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AND EMIL A. CLAUS, O]? ARLINGTON,

PATENT OFFICE masar, ASSIGNOBS THE narrorur swam aarmme oouramr. or imw :rnnsmr, or anenwaraa, new mnsnx, A coaroaa'rron' or new masmr AIR smx. roa ROTARY harms.

Application filed J'anuarydfi, 1931. Serial 170.5053.

. ing, roasting, aerating, carbonizlng or decarbonizing,humidify1ng, and practically all cases where it is necessary to maintain .a substantially air tight seal between rotating and stationary parts of the apparatus.

The invention and purpose to provide a flexible or yieldable air sealing means between the wall of the rotating drum or shell and a chamber within which one end of the shell extends which will effectually prevent the ingress or egress of air or other materials into or from the chamber or housing.

It is a more speci 0 object of our invention to provide an air sealing means for the above purpose'embodying a labyrinth ring suitably fixed to the periphery of the drum or cylinder which is rotatably mounted and supported in the usual manner with 1ts ax1s 1nclined from-the horizontal, and means for mounting a plurality of yieldable flexible sealing elements at one end of the heater housing and in planes at right angles to the axis of the cylinder for cooperation with sa1d labyrinth ring.

It is also a further general ob ect of our invention to provide an air seal as above characterized which consists of relatively few parts of simple and durable mechanlcalform, capable of application to drumsor cylinders of the conventional types now in general use at nominal expense, and which will be highly reliable and eflicient for the purpose in view.

-With the above and other objects in vlew, the invention consists in the improved. air seal for rotating drums, and in the form, construction and relative arrangement of its several parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accom panying drawings, and subsequently incorporated in the subjoined claim. I

In the drawings, wherein we have disclosed one simple and practical embodiment of our invention, and in which similar referhas for its general object ence characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a fragmenta vertical sectional view on line 1--1 of ig. 2 through one end of the rotary cylinder or shell and the heater chamber or housing into which it extends, illustrating one preferred practical embodiment of our present improvements Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken I on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

While as above noted, the device constituting the subject matter of this application has a more or less extensive field of utility in connection with apparatus employed for numerous different purposes, we have found it to be particularly desirable and useful in its application to the rotating drum or c linder of a sugar granulator, and it is wit respect to such use of the invention, that the same will be hereinafter more particularly described.

Referring in detail to the drawings, 5 designates a part of the usual heater casing or housing having its rear end wall 6 provided with an opening of suitable diameter through which the lower end of the horizontally inclined granulator shell or cylinder 7 extends. This shell is mounted or supported in any suitable manner, and'is revolved or rotated by the customary power operated means. At the upper end of the inclined granulator cylinder, the usual suction fan is arranged, and

within the casing or housing 5, suitable heater coils are contained so that as the granulator cylinder is rotated and the sugar agitated and reduced to granulated condition by the blades or vanes on the inner side of said cylinder (not shown), hot air is drawn from the housing 5 upwardly through the cylinder.

ible ring or gasket of felt or canvas to the currents of cold air and dust.

rear end wall of the housing 5, but owing to the inclination of the cylinder with respect to the vertical wall of the housing and radial movement of the cylinder end in addition to excessive wear of the flexible ring, such makeshift sealing devices have been more or less ineffective Our present invention, whereby such difficulties in effecting the desired seal between the housing and the rotating granulator cylinder are overcome, consists in the provision of a plate 8 which is disposed in rearwardly spaced relation from the rear end wall 6 of the housing 5 and is disposed at a vertical inclination in a plane at right angles to the normal axis of rotation of the cylinder or shell 7. This plate is of rectangular form corresponding to the housing 5 and is rigidly connected with the rear wall 6 of the housing preferably by means of the bridge plates 9 at the opposite sides of the cylinder which are secured to the angle bars 10 and 11 fixed to the wall 6 and the plate 8 respectively, and a horizontal top bridging plate or Web 12 whlch is suitably secured to the angle bars 13 and 14 extending along the upper edges of the housing wall 6 and the plate 8 respectively.

A reinforcing angle bar indicated at 15 is also preferably secured to the inner face of the plate 8 along the lower edge thereof and a horizontal angle bar '16 is secured to said plate 8 above the bar 15, and at the lower side of the opening in the plate 8 through which the cylinder 7 extends. At the center of the plate 8, the vertical angle bars 17 extend between the bars 15 and 16.

Upon the periphery of the cylinder 7 in spaced relation from the lower open end thereof which is disposed within the housing 5, a labyrinth ring 18 is welded or otherwise permanently secured. This ring may conveniently be produced in the form of a one piece casting having one or more spaced annular flanges 19 on the outer side thereof. In the resent instance, We have shown three such anges, but it will be understood that a greater or less number may be provided as desired. The outer diameter of the flanges 19, is such that when the granulator drum or cylinder is mounted in position with respect to the housing 5, the edges of said flanges are spaced from the edge of the opening in the plate 8 as clearly seen in Fig. 1 of the drawings.

To the outer or rear face of the plate 8,

the laterally spaced sealing members 20 are spacing strip or ring 21 of wood or other suitable material is interposed. This spacing ring and the sealing members are provided with suitably spaced registering openings therethrough to receive the attaching bolts 22 which also extend through openings provided in the plate 8 and the flanges 14 and 16. A metal washer ring 23 is engaged uponthe threaded ends of the bolts 22 against the face of the sealing member 20 to receive the pressure of the adjustable nuts 24 threaded upon said bolts.

The major portions of the spaced resilient or flexible sealing members 20 extends inwardly from the edge of the opening in the plate 8, the inner edge portions of said sealing members 20 extending 'within the spaces between the flanges 19 on the labyrinth ring 18. While these sealing members are of such thickness that they will not tend to frictionally retard the free rotation of the granulator cylinder, their side faces are in close relation to the surfaces of the flanges 19 so as to preclude the possibility of cold air being drawn under the action of the suction fan into the granulator cylinder, between the several flanges 19 and around the sealing members 20. c

As the granulator cylinder or shell rotates, there is a certain amount of angular displacement of the same relative to its axis so that the several flanges 19 will have intermittent frictional contact or pressure against the sealing members 20. However, there is ample area of these sealing members between the outer edges of the flanges 19 and the edge of the opening in the plate 8 to permit said flanges to flex and readily accommodate themselves to the changing positions of the cylinder so as to minimize frictional wear of said sealing members and maintain the effectiveness of the seal.

It may also occasionally occur that there is a certain degree of eccentricity in the rotary seal or cylinder. Our device compensates for such eccentricity by so dimensionmgthe sealing rings 20 and the flanges 19 that While there is a suflicient overlap to effectually prevent the passage of air or dust, there will nevertheless, be ample clearance at all times between the edges of the sealing rings 20 and the base plate of the labyrinth ring 18.

From the foregoing description considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction of our improved air seal for sugar granulators, the manner of its operation, and its several advantages in practical use will be readily understood. We'have found that by the use .of our invention, the quantity output of granulated sugar from each of the cylinders or shells is materially increased owing to the complete exclusion of cold air currents and contaminating dust which heretofore have been drawn into the cylinder end, resulting in considerable wastage. It will be evident that the device as above described may be easily applied to sugar granulators or other apparatus of the present standard construction, and at relatively small cost. The several parts thereof are of simple mechanical form as well as exceedingly durable, and after being once properly assembled and applied, will continue to function in a satisfactory manner almost indefinitely. Should it however, be found that there is any leakage of air through the seal due to excessive wear, those portions or sections of the sealing members 20 which have become unduly worn, may be easily removed and replaced by new sections, at negligible expense.

We have herein shown and described an embodiment of our present invention, which we have found to give excellent results in practical use. Nevertheless, it is to be understood that in its several details, the essential features of our present disclosure may also be incorporated in various othermechanical forms, and we therefore, reserve the privilege of resorting to all such legitimate changes therein as may be fairly embodied within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed. 1

We claim:

An air seal for a housing for calcining, drying and the like, having a rotary drum at an angle within the housing, and intermediate said housing and the drum, comprising an annular member on the drum and having radially extending flanges thereon parallel with each other to provide an annular elongated groove having parallel side walls therebetween, a rigidly fixed annular sealing member having parallel sides and a thickness substantially equal to the width of the groove adapted to fit radially and slidably within the groove and in close contact with the walls of said member and form therewith a seal by the exterior sides of. the

sealing member contacting with the interio parallel sides of the groove irrespective-of a; f slight longitudinal shifting of the drumytiiiyd means in connection; with ,thefl-rhousirl'g "for holding said sealing member 'i'n' alignment with the sides of the flanges, said sealing member being flexible and adapted to maintain contact with the sides of the flanges of the annular groove when the drum is tilted, whereby to prevent the entrance of air or dust into the housing.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our invention, we have signed our names hereto. I

JOHN W. SCI-ILEGEL. EMIL A. CLAUS. 

